I have been looking at gold and silver for a while now. I utilize many web sites for my information but I use two of them more than others: Macrotrends and APMEX. Gold is expensive, and I am not a rich fellow; so, I am unable to invest in whole ounces of gold these days. I soon discovered FRACTIONAL COINS; these are coins that are usually 1/2, 1/4. 1/10, 1/25, or 1/50 of an ounce. There are other fractions, but these are the most common.

Since the election this past November, the smaller fractional coins have become more difficult to find -most especially the fractional coins that were hereto closest to the SPOT PRICE. I think this could be due to a shortage -manufactured or otherwise- or an unforeseen increase in demand. What I mean by the difference between a shortage and an increase in demand is that nations do not issue gold or silver coins the way we issue paper money -continuously. They are usually more specific with regards to the minting of their gold money. Thus folks are either hording the smaller coins, preferring to purchase them over the larger ones, or both.

What does a shortage of small coins mean? The remaining majority of coins to be found are larger and more expensive; fewer poor folks -like me- will not be able to invest. This is the trend that I have noticed over the past 30 days: even though the price of gold is fluctuating around $1700-1730, the lack of small coinage removes us small-time investors from the game.